3 Low Cost Ways to a Mobile Recruitment Strategy

Too many gadgets too little outlets! Recently traveling I found one of my biggest worries while in various airports was where I can find an outlet to charge my smart phone. It's fascinating how the mobile phone went from optional to a must have tool.

We plan, schedule, respond, play, click, text, email, find directions with the mobile phone. That is not all. According to Simply Hired’s 2013 Mobile Recruiting Outlook, over 70% of active job seekers are using their mobile phones to find jobs.

While the mobile job search is on the increase, workplace application processes have not kept up. Sure, tapping on the “apply here” button is easy enough. Once a prospective candidate gets into the application system, they find it hard to maneuver around in the system using their mobile phone.

To minimize the risk of losing the next talented candidate to a tech savvy competitor consider adopting a mobile recruitment as part of your overall strategy.

QR Code

Here are 3 low cost ways to adopting a mobile recruitment strategy:

Mobilize the application form – Mobile friendly career websites are popping up rapidly. Let’s not stop there. Create a mobile friendly job application that can be completed through a smart phone. This is not expensive. SmartRecruiters has made this capability available for small businesses for free. Applicants can surf for jobs on their phone and easily apply using their Facebook or Linkedin accounts.

Text Messaging – Consider using text-messaging capability to send job alerts or arrange job interviews with prospective candidates. Mobile friendly career pages enable candidates to sign up for hot job alerts to be sent to their mobile phones.

Scanning – Optimize your ability to deliver information efficiently through QR codes. QR codes are bar codes that contain specific job information that can be efficiently scanned and viewed through the mobile phone. Information can also include links and videos.

Not only can a mobile recruitment strategy can provide information efficiently, but it can also give you a competitive advantage in recruiting top talent.

Have you thought about adopting a mobile recruitment strategy? If so, share tips with us here or on our Facebook page!

Tresha D. Moreland, MS, MBA, SPHR, founder of HR C-Suite, is an HR thought leader in Human Resource Strategic Management. She has held key human resource leadership roles for over 15 years in multiple industries most recently a senior vice president in the healthcare industry.
Tresha is the founder and publisher of HR C-Suite (www.hrcsuite.com). HR C-Suite is a game changer results-based HR strategy website. It is a first-of-it's-kind site that organizes HR strategy based on desired business result.
She has developed a business philosophy of integrating human resources with business strategy, thus creating a hybrid HR leadership approach. This approach enables the leveraging human resources to achieve business results.

3 comments

Tresha, you make some really good points about the value of the msite as a tool for candidates to apply online.

That said, the easier applying for jobs becomes, the more low quality applicants there end up being.

I think there is a real danger with this that employers find themselves either having such a large volume of candidates that they have to load their ATS’s with even more automated, pre-screening DQ criterion, or else they end up with a bloated internal recruiting function to handle the increased applicant volume.

Either way, making it easier for candidates to apply for your jobs is a mixed bag.

Your points are valid. The true value is when this technology can also support pre screening questions as well as quick application options. I understand technology solutions will be all over that 2nd quarter of this year. What are your thoughts, if those applicants who have mobile access were also required to answer pre-screening questions?

Who has more time to spend applying for jobs, the high quality candidate or the low quality candidate? More often than not, the low quality candidate.

So when you say, “the easier applying for jobs becomes, the more low quality applicants there end up being,” I just don’t get it. When you make an application form longer you increase the drop off rate of high quality candidates.

When it comes to having too many unqualified candidates, it is your sourcing – and not the application form – that needs to becomes smarter.